


Sinners

by Oddoneout



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Human!Bill, I don't know what I'm doing, M/M, also probably the whole thing is very very ooc, i just hope it's understandable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 16:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7540225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oddoneout/pseuds/Oddoneout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper Pines after his most devastating Christmas; not a pretty sight. It doesn’t matter that his sister sits beside him loyally and sticks two bar of chocolate under his nose at the same time, she can’t cheer him up. Even she can’t set this right.<br/>Dipper Pines never wanted to disappoint, especially his parents. And he would have never thought that the biggest discovery of the last summer would be someone who can kick him to the ground and step over him when he himself lives in the seventh circle of Hell. And Dipper is more surprised that he is actually enjoying this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinners

**Author's Note:**

> So basically this is my first fic in English ever, so feel free to point any mistakes, please. I'm just curious how this will turn out.

Dipper had been biting his lower lip for half an hour. (He wanted it to hurt.)  
The bus quietly ran into the dark Oregon night, pine trees rushed beside them as he was staring out the window. He couldn’t find peace, still couldn’t.  
His sister, Mabel watched a Christmas romcom on her phone with glittering eyes – although she was past eighteen she still wouldn’t give up her faith in wonders. ‘Even when the world always proved her the opposite’ Dipper thought bitterly.  
He still heard his father’s angry words – “You weren’t born to be like this, I wish you were rather dead!” – and he still felt the lump in his throat, the growing despair which he could barely repress then and which came back stronger as soon as they got on the bus. He didn’t even plan it; at least not now, on Christmas.  
Dipper threw back himself frustrated against the seat; Mabel’s knee calmingly pressed against his, even though she didn’t even glance up from her phone.  
It was her decision to go with him; she didn’t have to do it. But Dipper was incredibly grateful for this – although he didn’t show it –; still, he didn’t know what he would have done without his sister.

Everything started in the summer; the heat, as it is well known, drives people mad. It was the second summer they spent with Grunkle Stan after years. Mabel was totally turned on; she was like a sugarfevered squirrel, jumping up and down on the seat as they were driving towards Gravity Falls; she could hardly wait to see her friends again and Dipper thought about the mysteries still waiting for him excitedly.  
The air was heavy in the car; they could have swum in it. Dipper moaned as he swiped the sweat off his eyebrows; he felt like as if he was glued to the black leather seat. Next to him Mabel pulled down the window and stuck out her head; the wind blew her hair into her face and sunshine shining trough trees spotted her skin with gold.  
Mrs. Pines turned on the radio and the car was filled with the sound of the newest summer-hit as the old Cadillac ran deeper into the Oregon wild towards Gravity Falls.  
The twins were seventeen and wonders waited for them.  
A shoppingcart suddenly lashed to the road in front of them; Mr. Pines tugged the wheel to the left, brakes screeched and Mabel screamed when she hit her head to the window-frame. Dipper, as he jerked to the side, could still see the shoppingcart with its passenger, a yellow-hooded guy, disappearing into the woods.  
“Who the hell was this moron?” Mrs. Pines gasped for air clutching her seatbelt, her knuckles whitened.  
Dipper didn’t answer; he still stared at the spot where the stranger disappeared. He didn’t know who could be capable of such idiocy.

No, he didn’t have the faintest clue then what was waiting for him. But if he had known… Maybe he wouldn’t changed anything.  
“Hey, wanna to listen to music?” asked Mabel, elbowing him in the side. From her earphones a stupid Christmas pop-hit were dully audible and Dipper silently took the other earbud.  
At home, before they opened their presents they always listened to music; he was sure Mabel was trying to bring back something from that.  
“I brought you something.” From her backpack she took out a small parcel wrapped in red paper with a small golden bow to adorn it. Dipper smiled weakly.  
“Thanks, Mabel” he murmured. “But… But I forgot yours at home…”  
“It doesn’t matter, you’ll give me later” she waved. “Now open it! Open it already!” she hurried him, her face faintly blushed with excitement.  
Dipper carefully started unwrapping his present; he suspected what was inside: a journal. As it was last year. And the year before. But he needed it; he had just finished the last notebook. He just couldn’t be surprised anymore.  
“Thank you” he glanced up as the journal’s red spine appeared.  
“Merry Christmas, Dipper!” She hugged him tightly and pressed her face against his shoulder. “At least merrier, is it?” she looked up at him.  
“A bit” he nodded as stupid Christmas pop was thundering into his ear, the engine of the bus was buzzing quietly and outside it started to snow.  
Neither of them dreamt their Christmas to be like this.

When they arrived to Gravity Falls that summer, nothing implied the soon-happening events yet.  
Grunkle Stan welcomed them the same as four years ago. Ford was still busy in his dungeon. The Mistery Shack ran with the same success as before; Mabel hugged her friends with the same intensity and their parents left the place as soon as they could as always. Only Wendy got prettier a bit; but this wasn’t really a surprise. Soos remained unchanged too; but you couldn’t really expect him to change.  
This safe stability calmed Dipper. As always.  
“We thought we wouldn’t even get here!” chattered Mabel as they all went into the shack. “We almost got our car crashed!” She flung her arms about as she talked about the shopping cart running in front of them; the only thing that mattered to tell her story.  
“That bloody Cipher kid again!” groaned Gruncle Stan interrupting Mabel.  
“Who?” frowned Dipper.  
“Cipher. Bill Cipher. I dare to bet that he was the one in the shopping cart! He has just moved here, to the brink of the town with his parents” Gruncle Stan explained. “That kid is possessed, I swear. He’s looking for trouble all the time. Those stupid cops pay more attention to him than me” he grumbled.  
“That really is rare” deadpanned Dipper. Bill Cipher didn’t seem to be someone who could interest him; and just like that he didn’t think about him anymore.

The bus stopped suddenly and Dipper fell forward a bit. He looked out the window, confused; outside the lights of the near gas station outshone the faint moonlight. They just stopped to rest.  
“I have to pee” announced Mabel hoarsely; she had almost fallen asleep. He stood up with a tired moan and picked up her wallet; she passed through the seats until she finally disappeared from Dipper’s sight. It was still snowing outside.  
Dipper leaned against the window and gripped his backpack.

The summer went peaceful; so far as anything could be called peaceful in Gravity Falls. It seemed the time is not enough to solve all the mysteries.  
For example, there were the blood-thirsty elves that kept ants as housepets and sacrificed them to their gods; or there were the forest of the singing giant mushrooms and the tribe of the two-headed squirrels; then there was the sect of the underground gems…  
Dipper filled journals with his discoveries, his fingers sometimes cramped and the sun burnt his back, his arms, his face red, but he couldn’t stop.  
It’s surprising how fast can become something perfect something miserable.

“I’m back!” Mabel pushed him with her shoulder as she sat down. “Chocolate?” she asked.  
“No, thanks” he mumbled.  
“Are you sure?” she tried. “Chocolate makes you feel better. Only a bite?”  
“I said no thanks!” burst out Dipper.  
“Alright, I get it. Sorry” murmured Mabel as she retreated.  
“I’m sorry” Dipper bit his lip, his face red with shame. “I’m sorry.”  
“No problem” smiled Mabel. “It’ll be better, believe me” she said as she took a bite from her chocolate. “Mum and dad will understand it. They just need time.”  
“I just don’t know how much time” muttered Dipper. He remembered when his father blamed his mother and his mother blamed his father because of ‘what they had made him’.  
“Patience” elbowed him Mabel. “I’m here for you. Always” she said, mouth full of chocolate.  
“Thanks, Mabel” Dipper smiled faintly. “This means a lot.”  
“Chocolate?” asked Mabel again sticking a melt chocolate Santa under his nose and Dipper couldn’t stand it without laughing.

One night the cicadas screamed too loud, the air was too frowzy and Dipper’s bed seemed too hard to sleep. It looked like it was one of those infinite, sleepless nights when his thoughts were rushing and he was stirring and turning in bed.  
Then a loud bang brought the cicada’s scream short; Dipper so suddenly jerked up sitting that his stomach slipped into his throat. His heart was hammering in his chest as he stood up; the mattress screeched under him and he startled. Mabel didn’t wake up; she always had been a heavy-sleeper.  
Was it a burglar? Or was it just the goat chewing on the exhibited objects? Or was it only the draught?  
Or was it really a burglar? A burglar… A burglar… With his heart together echoed the word as he grabbed Mabel sixth mini-golf club; he gripped it so hard that his knuckles whitened.  
He barely heard the wooden floor creaking under his feet as he was going downstairs; his knees were trembling.  
It was stupid – he had fought with bigger monsters before… It’s going to be alright… He can do it…  
He took a deep breath; he could hear someone rummaging in the shack for sure. He can do it… He can do it!  
He turned out from behind a wall, ready to fight – but the mini golf club stopped in his hands.  
The yellow-hooded stranger were standing at the shack’s checkout, his fingers were still on the machine’s buttons unmoved. He stared at Dipper, eyes wide, with at least as much surprise as Dipper stared at him – moments passed like this.  
Then the stranger pulled off his hood and grinned.  
“Name’s Bill. Bill Cipher” he nodded.  
“Are you an idiot?” asked Dipper; he couldn’t hold it back. “You want to steal my uncle’s money and when you are caught you show your face and introduce yourself?!” He couldn’t believe it.  
Bill seemed confused for a moment, and almost guilty; then his gaze hardened.  
“It’s a bit rude, breaking the door on someone, don’t you think?” he said; in his voice there was a storm.  
“You break into our house and I’m the one who is rude?” burst out Dipper angrily. “Get out!” he shouted.  
“Careful, Pinetree! You don’t want me as your enemy” Bill hissed; the air was vibrating. The cicadas fell silent. The wind started to blow. As if the time had stopped.  
“Get out!” Dipper screamed.  
Lightning struck trough the sky then thunder banged; Bill’s eyes flickered up yellow and the ground trembled.  
“Who are you?” breathed Dipper, wind tore into his hair; something supernatural pressed the room apart. Dipper’s eyes burned feverishly; hair stood up on his arms.  
Then the wind stopped and Bill disappeared; only the door flung after him with quiet creaks, implying he left in a rush.  
“Dipper…” Mabel’s sleepy voice came behind him. “What’s going on?” she yawned.  
“I don’t know” said Dipper with goosebumps still on his arm. He didn’t looked back; he stared at the spot where Bill had stood. “But I will find out.”

*

With this promise soon started the ‘Bill Cipher Finding and Discovering Maneuver’ (and yes, Dipper was still working on a better name).  
The plan was easy: finding and catching the blonde, five feet nine inch tall, artistically built, human-shaped organism under the name Bill Cipher who can grin so annoyingly but is not so bright in the head. And then…  
There was no then; Dipper didn’t think further – it didn’t even seem necessary. The plan was dead sure.  
He even drew mentioned organism in his journal and documented everything he could pick up over their brief meeting. He couldn’t fail.  
Gruncle Stan informed him that the target is living on the brink of the town, in the ruined ghost-house with his parents whom could never be seen.  
Dipper set his observation post on a pine tree opposite the house maybe on the hottest day of summer. Sitting on the thickest branch he tugged his backpack under his head, stretched his legs comfortably, put the journal on his knees and… And he waited. For quite a long time.  
He was patient; he had already learned that solving mysteries took time.  
Sometimes he ate a chocolate bar. Or scratched himself and cursed the ants climbing up and down on the tree’s trunk. But he never tore his eyes away from the house.  
Lights changed as time passed. Dipper started to get bored. His eyes closed time to time – just for a moment. Just for a few moments.  
Then with the dark lights flickered up in the house in front of him; Dipper for a moment thought he had fallen asleep and now he was dreaming. Shadows danced on the curtains, a woman and a men; Dipper leaned forward with excitement.  
The man was heavier built than the target, his shoulders were wide. The woman stood opposite him and flung his arms about wildly as she talked. It seemed they were arguing; then a plate shattered – and there was a slap. And another.  
And then the target appeared, the human-shaped organism named Bill Cipher. His shadow vibrated trough the curtains as he hit the man; with wide eyes Dipper watched.  
And the wind started to blow. And inside the house something supernatural pressed apart the walls.  
Shadows of plates, cutlery, chairs rose; Dipper couldn’t breath. Objects spun around Bill Cipher and porcelain broke against the wall and shattered glass flew apart; the woman fell on her knees. She cried. And then everything stopped. The wind lulled.  
Bill Cipher’s shadow faintly vibrated.  
Then the door flung open and the man ran out shouting; Dipper could see the fear in his eyes as he leaned closer on the branch with loud crick-crack.  
Inside the house Bill stepped towards the woman hesitantly then he stopped when she put up her arms in defense; he backed away. Dipper held back his breath.  
Bill then turned around and stepped out of the house. He ran towards the forest in a hurry.  
Dipper climbed down from the tree so fast he bruised his knee and almost dislocated his ankle as he fell behind Bill.  
Fog crept in the forest, thick and white as snow, swallowing them; Dipper’s footsteps made a quiet noise as he was running in dead fallen leaves – he wasn’t sure anymore where. His breath broke, his legs hurt, his lungs burnt; but he didn’t stop.  
Then he tripped; he landed on the ground with a dull thump, dead leaves rustling under him. And he rolled along, downer, downer, downer on the slope dizzily.  
The he hitched. He moaned. And he stopped.  
He was lying on the ground gasping for air; he watched the sky, the trees leaning over him. Everything hurt.  
A face appeared in front of him. He crouched next to Dipper and just looked at him; his face still wet with tears.  
“I never cry” he said. Dipper didn’t remember when this human-shaped organism became simply Bill for him.  
“Of course” he said – it was only natural to something supernatural to not cry; but sometimes still do. And it was alright.  
“Why did you follow me?” asked Bill.  
“Because I’m interested in you” answered Dipper honestly. Maybe he hit his head.  
Bill wiped his face with the sleeve of his hoodie.  
“What are you interested in, Pinetree?”  
“Who are you?” whispered Dipper.  
“They say I’m the son of the Devil” answered Bill. “Many fear me.”  
“I don’t” said Dipper.  
“You’d better” Bill looked away. “I do… strange things since I was a baby. And… And I’m not even sure anymore if I am human. More like a demon. The Devil himself. And indestructible too. I don’t feel pain. Everyone fears me. Fear me too!” he looked back at Dipper; his eyes flickered in yellow for a moment.  
“I won’t” sit up Dipper. “Tell me who are you!”  
“I’ve just told you…!” burst out Bill angrily; the wind started to blow.  
“No, I didn’t mean it like that” Dipper shook his head. “I’m interested in who you are. What kind of music you listen to. What kind of films you watch. What hurts you and what makes you feel like flying. What you dream about at night and what keeps you awake. These are the things I’m interested in.”  
“You are human” breathed Bill quietly. “And you see me as one. I won’t thank you.”  
“You don’t have to” smiled Dipper. “You know what? Let’s play something! You ask me three things and I ask you three things. Then tomorrow, on the edge of the forest, we’ll meet again.”  
“Alright” nodded Bill. “The deal is on.”

And it was really on.  
They met every day at the same place; the pine tree with scars on its trunk and low-hanging branches. It was the ugliest and prettiest pine tree of the forest.  
Then they dived into the woods, into the quiet and peace and golden sunshine shattered trough the crown of trees. And they questioned.  
Bill had smooth manners and scars on his wrist. His hair was blonde, golden-blonde, his nose subtle and his grin outrageous. He lived with his mother; he didn’t have a father. They said he fled and he left his bad temper for his son as an only heritage.  
Bill was arrested for shoplifting a few times and he blackmailed his first kiss out of a girl when she was fourteen and he was eleven. Bill was dangerous and he knew a lot of things; he knew Dipper’s name when he never introduced himself; he knew every constellation and the secrets of Dipper’s every nightmare. He was frightening and beautiful; the dirtiest and purest thing in Dipper’s life.  
When he realized this the stars were hidden. The sky was empty over them when Dipper kissed Bill and he kissed back. Darkness watched as they bit into lips, tore into skin panting quietly and there were no light still when they went home and Bill gently pressed his lips against Dipper’s collarbone for the last time. They didn’t say goodbye. It would have been pointless; and Dipper’s heart broke a bit.  
The day after, Dipper and Mabel got on the thirty-third bus to California and went home and the summer ended.  
But doubt stayed. Dipper puzzled over it for months – did he fall in love with the supernatural? That wouldn’t have been so far away from him. Or was he attracted to boys too? He had never thought about this.  
Then he decided it was both. As Bill Cipher was human and monster, he was attracted to boys and girls all the same; and in this duality there was something incredibly heart-wrenching and something infinitely natural.  
This was called – according to the dictionary – bisexuality; Dipper needed some time to get used to it. And to say it. And to tell it to Mabel. Because saying and telling were not the same.  
Mabel screamed. And her eyes widened in surprise. Then she jumped on the Internet and read everything about the topic she could find and she was annoyingly enthusiastic for days, weeks, months as if it was a big deal.  
But it really wasn’t. It was a secret; something heavy and pressing that was known only by a few in the world. And it could have remained this way until the end of times; it would have been alright this way.  
Dipper hadn’t heard his mother speaking with such anger and impulse before he brought up the topic at dinner; his father hadn’t hit the table with such force before.  
As if it was a filthy secret; something to be ashamed of, something that you mustn’t speak about.  
Then Dipper’s mother smiled and she said how happy she was that his son wasn’t ‘like that’. That he would have never brought shame to his family. And it was the worst.  
This decided the question; his parents mustn’t have known about what happened in the summer. They mustn’t have known about Bill.  
But it didn’t end there. Phone-calls came once a month from an abandoned payphone, Dipper’s e-mails lost into the void and Bill haunted his dreams… It felt as if the summer would have never come.

Dipper lifted his head sleepily; the bus had stopped again. The landscape was snowy all around; pine trees’ dark shadows towered over them. As if they were in the middle of nowhere. ‘Welcome to Gravity Falls!’  
The bus stop was on the brink of the town, far away from everything. Dipper waked up Mabel. He wasn’t sure about Gruncle Stan waiting for them; he braced himself for the long road to the shack in the heavy snowstorm on their own.  
But Grunkle Stan’s car was waiting in the parking lot; inside the heating was buzzing and they knocked on the window at least three times to their great-uncle to finally unlock the doors.  
“What the hell was so urgent that you have to arrive now?” he growled sleepily. “What had struck my brother that he kicked you out of his house?”  
“We’ll tell you later!” jumped Mabel into the car shivering with cold. “Oh my god, I’m gonna freeze to this car!” she rubbed her hands.  
Dipper sat to the passenger seat and didn’t say a word.  
“One would think we are used to snowstorms here in Oregon” grumbled Grunkle Stan starting the car. “But no, one frozen road and a stupid kid’s accident is enough to stop the whole traffic…!”  
“Accident?” asked Dipper sleepily. “What kind of accident?”  
“That Cipher kid again… He is in trouble again…” growled Grunkle Stan and Dipper’s blood went cold.  
“What happened to him?” he breathed.  
“Why do you care?” croaked Grunkle Stan. “You didn’t even know him…”  
“What happened to him?!” burst out Dipper demanding answer.  
“A lorry or something, I don’t care…” shrugged Grunkle Stan; Dipper’s blood was thundering, drumming in his veins.  
“Where is he? Is he in hospital? Let’s go there!” he yelled. He had to do something; he wanted to do something.  
“Dipper…” Mabel tried to calm him down putting her hand on his shoulder.  
“Let’s go to the hospital!” he shouted.  
Grunkle Stan shook his head.  
“I don’t want to go to that bloody hospital, it’s the middle of the damn night! Stop throwing a tantrum, kid!” he glanced at him.  
Dipper opened the door; Grunkle Stan suddenly hit the brakes; Dipper threw himself out of the car and started to run. Snowflakes slapped into his eyes and ice-cold air bit his lungs but he didn’t stop. He heard Mabel screaming after him; he ran.

It happened on Christmas Eve. It was revealed on Christmas Eve; it was only a slip of the tongue.  
A plate shattered. Dipper’s mother cried and she said she didn’t have a son anymore. His father yelled and his face was red and he had to ease his tie to breath. Mabel covered her ears and shut her eyes tight.  
And Dipper was just standing there and thought about Bill and didn’t understand why such a sin to love someone.  
And he thought that summer would come. They would meet for sure and there would be quiet again, and peace, and sunshine shattered trough the crown of the trees.  
Maybe he was wrong.

The road slithered; Dipper lost the ground from under his feet and his shoulder cracked as he landed with a hard thump.  
The hospital wasn’t that far.  
Tears stung in his eyes as he slowly stood up; he was heaving trough hurting lungs.

Bill said he was impassible. That he didn’t feel pain. That he was indestructible and invincible. He was so outrageously confident…  
He even let him test it. Moreover, he asked for it; as if he had desired it. He said he had been cutting his wrist to know the pain but he’d never succeeded.  
With compasses Dipper drew a triangle between Bill’s thumb and index-finger on a soft spot and he even closed his eyes, hands trembling, heart racing.  
The day after, the wound disappeared; not even a scar had remained. Bill seemed quite disappointed.  
Dipper hoped he was right. That the same would happen again. If Bill was indestructible he couldn’t die.

The lights of the hospital faintly glinted on the snow; green neon lights flashed inside.  
The photocell doors slid open when Dipper stepped in; his shoulder hurt like hell but he didn’t come for treatment.  
A reception seemed deserted, almost eerie sending a shiver down on Dipper’s spine.  
He started to search for Bill; he looked everywhere. Most of the rooms were empty, only a few older patients slept in some of them.  
Dipper hadn’t met doctors or nurses, not even one.  
The he saw it.  
Bill Cipher lay in the emergency ward. Tubes covered his whole body, machines peeped next to him. His face was as white as the pillow, almost indistinguishable.  
Dipper never wanted to see him like this.  
Bill was alone; it seemed his mother didn’t visit him. Did she even know…?  
Dipper couldn’t move; he felt sick. Bill said… he promised him he was impassible. Indestructible. Where was the Bill Cipher he knew?!  
He didn’t noticed when he moved but he was already standing next to his bed; his nails tearing deep cuts into his palm.  
“Don’t do this to me!” hissed Dipper. “You can’t do this to me!”  
Bill’s eyes remained closed. He didn’t move, only his chest rose and fell weakly.  
“What the hell happened to you anyway?” asked Dipper, voice angry. “What were you even thinking? That it will finally hurt? Have you got what you wanted? Does it hurt now, Bill?!” He wanted to shout.  
“Only relatives can stay after visiting hours.”  
Dipper startled; a nurse was standing at the door – she seemed exhausted.  
“I must ask you to leave” she said.  
“I’m sorry” whispered Dipper.  
“Pinetree…” Bill’s voice was faint and quiet. “I wouldn’t have thought we’ll meet here…”  
“Me neither” murmured Dipper.  
“Please!” said the nurse crossly.  
“Just a minute” waved her off Dipper.  
He was waiting; he didn’t know what for. Bill’s breath was heavy; he didn’t say a thing, only looked up at him with half-lidded eyes.  
“How did it happen?” asked Dipper finally.  
“That truck… That bloody truck came…” mumbled Bill. “The road slipped…”  
“What were you doing out there in the first place?” asked Dipper stepping closer.  
“Mum…” he breathed and Dipper understood. Bill’s mother had a new boyfriend and it was hell staying at home these times.  
“You said you were indestructible.” Dipper tilted his head to the side. “Did you lie to me?”  
“I don’t know. I didn’t.” answered Bill and he gasped for air in pain. (Just how long it would last?)  
“Tell me you are sorry” asked Dipper. “Tell me something like in the movies when everybody thinks the hero is dead but then he comes back safe and sound. Tell me something!”  
“Pinetree…” Bill grinned. The beeping of the machines grew faster, stronger. “This pain is… hilarious…” he breathed.  
A sharp, persistent beep lasted, so loud that Dipper wanted to cover his ears. A straight line slipped on the screen of the EKG machine, infinite; the nurse’s running steps echoed trough the corridor.  
Bill’s eyes were still open, dark, empty, and dead eyes; Dipper couldn’t tear his gaze away, he only stared as the doctors pushed him aside to start the resuscitation.  
There wouldn’t be summer anymore.


End file.
